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The biggest moments at New York Comic Con are usually things everyone can appreciate. You don’t have to physically be at the convention center to enjoy an awesome trailer. But arguably the best moments at NYCC are the moments that are only possible because you made the trek to New York City to mingle among your fellow nerds for four days of fandom. We’ve been going to NYCC for years now and have seen it all. Here are, personally, the best moments from NYCC 2018.

Seeing All The Scooby-Doo Cosplay

You’ll see people dressed up as anything and everyone even adjacently nerdy at NYCC. But costumes do tend to follow trends. We weren’t’ surprised to see a lot of Hela and Black Panthers on the floor. We were surprised, and delighted, to see so many people inexplicably dressed up as Scooby-Doo characters. Sure!

When a bunch of people in an industry all flock to the same city for a few days, naturally there are going to be parties. It’s great way to mingle with colleagues away from the bustling show floor. And that’s just what we did at the Square Enix party checking out Just Cause 4 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider DLC and cocktails. Kingdom Hearts # didn’t make an appearance, but that’s because it was saved for the show floor for the fans to play.

Buying $45 Pickle Rick Shirts

It’s a wonderful American tradition to sell overpriced merchandise at conventions just because it features a buzzworthy #brand. That’s just economics baby, the same economics letting folks getaway with $6 pretzels. The best example of this we saw at this year’s NYCC was a $45 t-shirt letting the wearer show off just how special they are for liking Pickle Rick from Rick and Morty.

Visiting Artist Alley

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This fact can get lost in the sea of movies and TV shows, but New York Comic Con is also for people who make comic books, and that includes scores of super talented and unappreciated artists. One of the best moments you can have at NYCC is going to Artist Alley and commissioning a custom piece of art. It’s a great way to support a creator and you’ll get a nifty Black Manta drawing out of it, too.

Gawking at Confused Non-New Yorkers

Even though New York is right in the name, it’s always fun to see folks from out of town just get so confused navigating Manhattan when they come here for the show. All the construction surrounding the 7 train certainly didn’t help. In a way NYCC is just like Times Square. It’s big, colorful, full of people in superhero costumes, and tourists just stop walking in the middle of the crowd.

Easily the best NYCC moment for me was just casually walking down the show floor and stumbling across a booth manned by Austin St. John and Walter Emanuel Jones, the original Red and Black Power Rangers, respectively. They were there signing autographs and posing for pictures and I’m sure promoting something. But it was just the lackadaisical way I fell into an encounter my childhood self would’ve found so unbelievably cool (Jason and Zach!) that really made the moment surreal.

Being Reminded About Guardians of the Galaxy

Disney surrendering to internet Nazis by continuing to ban James Gunn from making Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 still has me pretty bummed about the cosmic side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But even if the future is bleak, seeing all the love for Gunn’s personal take on the characters, from Baby Groot to Star-Lord’s Jackson 5 dance numbers, were great NYCC moments that assured me Disney can’t erase Gunn’s artistic legacy with a snap.